The Impact of Social Media Policies on Employee Behavior and Rights

This report summarizes a qualitative study examining the implications of social media policies on employee behavior, particularly focusing on off-duty online conduct. The study highlights the challenges employers face regarding employee voice, privacy, and labor laws. It analyzes how social media policies can potentially suppress employee expression and expand employer regulation into employees' personal lives, raising concerns about the balance between protecting organizational interests and safeguarding employee rights to freedom of speech and privacy. The report uses the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) guidelines to understand the issues and suggests the need for amendments in labor laws, especially in countries like the USA and Australia, to protect employee privacy and communication rights while limiting language usage restrictions in social media policies. The research emphasizes the importance of considering the risks associated with social media policies to maintain a healthy employer-employee relationship.

ARTICLE SUMMARY

Table of Contents
Summary..........................................................................................................................................3
References........................................................................................................................................5

Summary
This qualitative study deals with the implications of social media policies with which
employers regulate the employees’ online behavior when on off duty. The increasing use of
web-based technologies is posing challenges for employers with regards to employees’ voice,
resistance, discipline, privacy and surveillance. This paper discusses the implications of human
resource management and social media’s labor laws. Employers are increasingly using social
media policies and monitoring the employee’s presence on social media. This attitude is posing
challenges of employee and employer relationship.
Social media (SM) has opened new challenges and frontiers of expression amongst the
employees. SM has drastically changed the mode of communication, interactions and
expressions. All the tweets, likes or dislikes are uncensored, unedited and are increasingly visual
discussing work and employment related issues or matters. SM has opened new avenues through
which employers virtually control their employee’s private life and conduct and may use their
misconduct as allegations and take disciplinary actions and even termination.
With the explosion of technologies, SM policies have become a standard element in the
HRM policy in any organization. The basic SM policies include misconduct or behavior within
the organization or outside workplace which includes damage to the reputation, image and
business of the company. Arguably this provision of SM policies enhance the employer’s
interference and indulgence in the private life of employees and is similar to the practice adopted
previously in the post-master and servant era. This paper sheds highlight on two related issues
with regards to the impact of SM policies.
 The potentiality of these policies to suppress the voice pertaining to issues related to work
and working conditions.

 Another issue is whether the policies are a means by which employers are expanding
their employee’s behavior and work outside workplace and the way in which national
labor laws impose on this encroachment especially with the focus on USA and Australia.
To understand these two issues, 15 policies were considered for study of employee’s off-duty
behavior. This article uses the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) reasoning for
understanding the challenges. The NLRB has determined certain standards and set guidelines of
permissiveness to protect the individuals. NLRB has identified many clauses as unlawful like
privacy, contact information, confidentiality, using of company logos, tone of online postings,
false or misleading communication, inappropriate discussions, etc. The main purpose behind
this is to maintain the employer and employee relationship.
The findings of this research study reveal that 14/15 policies directly have the potential
chilling effect on the employee’s expression and voice. The analysis of this study indicates that
employers are expanding their regulations and monitoring the activities of employees through the
SM policies. They are indulging and regulating the personal lives of the employees and are
establishing avenues for lawfully terminating an employee. The greater regulation of
employees’ lives speaks of the master-servant era. It curtails the scope of freedom of expression
of employees. Of course organizations must protect themselves from the threats caused by SM
but this should not be attained at the expense of employees’ rights to freedom of speech,
expression and private life.
Hence, there is a need to amend laws to protect the privacy of employees’ and in countries
like Australia and USA three laws and policy are especially being considered. First is the
development of privacy law of employees in order to provide them protection when using SM
off-duty. Second is that the employees have the freedom of communication like discussing

about working conditions or management treatment without fear of retaliation. Third is limiting
the language usage. In a nutshell as the HR policy is being developed in this area, the employers
and employees must consider the risks associated with implementation of SM policies on their
healthy relationship.
Discussion Questions
 Do you think employer have right to regulate employees’ online behavior outside the
workplace? Why oy why not?
 What according to you are some of the factors that an organization should keep in mind
while developing SM policies?
 What amendments are needed in Australian Law and policy in context of this issue?
References
Thornthwaite, L., 2016. Chilling times: social media policies, labour law and employment
relations. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 54, pp.332–51.